1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to the removal of internal contamination from internal combustion engines and automatic transmissions. More particularly, it relates to the removal of contamination that forms within the internal surfaces of an engine's lubrication, cooling, fuel induction, and exhaust systems, and within the internal components of an automatic transmission.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Governmental regulations and world-wide competition have brought about many changes in the automotive industry during the past decade. To eliminate waste, comply with new regulations, and become more competitive worldwide, automobiles have become smaller, lighter in weight and more efficient in operation. With the addition of computerized ignition systems, stainless exhaust systems, and longer lasting brakes and tires, today's vehicles, when new, are more efficient, more trouble-free, and less polluting than ever before. However, modern vehicles, although more trouble-free when new as compared to earlier models, have engines and transmissions that are less durable than older models and which are essentially non-adjustable and non-rebuildable. Thus there is a need to make modern engines last longer and perform properly longer.
It is well-known that virtually every problem that occurs in an automobile drive train is caused by contamination. Varnish, carbon, sludge, unburned hydrocarbons, and polymerized glycols are the main culprits. The benefits of removing contamination have been known for years, but the technology for doing so, without taking apart the engine or transmission, has been non-existent.
For the past one hundred years, the automotive industry, due to the lack of suitable technology, has been forced to deal with the effects of contamination by adjusting, repairing or replacing parts, and the only method for delaying these repairs were regular fluid and filter changes. The benefits associated with regular fluid and filter changes are well established, but better ways for dealing with contamination are needed.
With today's higher revving, hotter running engines and transmissions, simple fluid changes do not remove enough contamination to dramatically affect the useful life of the vehicle. Moreover, today's cars are electronically controlled, and contamination affects the conductivity of the sensors; as a result, onboard computers do a poor job of providing engines with the ideal fuel-air ratio because they are getting inacuurate input information.
The need to remove contamination is clear.
The problems created by contamination were addressed in the past. There are patents on machines and chemicals to remove contamination dating back to the early 1920s. The teachings of the prior art are that an engine will operate more efficiently and last longer when contamination is removed, but the art does not explain how and why this occurs. Moreover, the art teaches that contamination must be removed when an engine is not running. It can be surmised from the art that there is a problem relating to the operation of an engine and transmission as contamination builds up, but the art does not provide a complete working solution to the problem of contamination. Nor does the art explain what the contamination is composed of, how it got there, and how engine and transmission performance is affected; all of this must be determined by research and the solution to the problems must be derived from that research. Each different form of contamination in each support system affects the overall performance and operation of the unit as a whole.
Non-rebuildable components, non-adjustable fuel systems, and electronic sensors and controls, which are all affected by contamination, are relatively new in the automotive industry. In addition, many of the problems with contamination today were non-existent just a few years ago.
From the beginning of the automobile age until the oil filter became widely used in the 1940s, the biggest problem associated with contamination was the dirt and grit which enters into an engine's crankcase and wears out the bearings. The oil filter helped reduce this problem considerably by filtering out a majority of the foreign particles. However, bearings were still subjected to excessive wear during start-up of the engine because oil filters were not required to have an anti-drain back valve until the early 1960s.
There is a progression of technology that leads from simply flushing the oil reservoir out with flushing oil, to methods that actually pressurize the internal oil passageways with a flushing fluid to remove the loose contamination that resides within. Although loose contamination, such as sludge, needs to be removed, it is absolutely necessary to remove all of the forms of contamination completely, with a procedure that ensures no damage occurs during the removal, to properly maintain the treated engine.
Maintenance of an engine's cooling system requires removing old coolant, adding fresh coolant, or filtering old coolant to remove the impurities and adding back to the coolant additives that have been used up over time. It is also beneficial to remove any blockages created from loose pieces of contamination from within the cooling tubes of the radiator. Accomplishing these two items can be compared to the basic procedure of changing the oil and oil filter of an engine. To provide proper maintenance to an engine, one which will restore its operational characteristics to that of its original state, the heat transfer properties of the engine must also be restored by removing the build-up of polymerized coolant that forms an insulating layer within the cooling system. Without restoring its ideal heat transfer properties, the engine will be unable to properly cool itself as originally intended and will transfer the excess heat to the oil and the transmission fluid, subjecting such fluids to undue temperatures. Another important consideration in the cooling system is that of the temperature sensor. This sensor sends readings to the computer for adjustment of the fuel-air ratio. If this sensor is coated with an insulating layer of contamination, the signals to the computer are not accurate and improper adjustments of the fuel-air ratio will occur.
An engine's fuel system is designed to provide the engine with air and fuel in prescribed amounts, and the ratio is continuously adjusted by a computer via measurements performed by various sensors. As carbon is deposited on the internal areas of the system, the flow of air and fuel is disrupted. Carbon build-up creates air turbulence, not allowing the proper amount of air to reach the combustion chamber. It also acts like a sponge, soaking up portions of fuel intended for combustion. Like a sponge, when carbon is saturated it releases its liquid. This release is unexpected by the engine, so the computer tries to make adjustments when the liquid is released. Since the release is very brief, and afterwards the carbon absorbs fuel again, the adjustment by the computer is not correct and another adjustment is made. This creates a surging in the idleing of the engine. This example describes just one of the effects of carbon build-up within an engine.
Nor can the problem be solved by injecting a cleaning solution into the engine at the fuel rail and through the fuel injector tips. Fuel injector tips are placed very close to the intake valve and are designed to vaporize the fuel going into the combustion chamber. The cleaning solution is also vaporized and does not reach any other point within the intake manifold except for the area directly in front of the intake valve. The cleaning solution loses any kinetic energy that would be formed when droplets hit the carbon and is turned into steam from the heat of the manifold. It is also limited to just this one small area. The carbon build-up, resulting from thousands of hours of engine operation, spreads throughout the interior of the intake manifold.
The automatic transmission relies on internal fluid pressures to accomplish its job of providing power to the wheels of the vehicle. The fluid in an automatic transmission is very sensitive to heat. As the fluid is heated, it deposits varnish on the internal parts of the transmission. This varnish coats the seals, causing them to dehydrate. Dehydrated seals lose their ability to properly seal, causing internal pressures to fluctuate and causing external fluid leaks. The varnish also traps bits of metal and clutch plate particles against the interior surfaces of the transmission as it forms. Moving parts, such as accumulator valves, are also affected by varnish. It causes them to stick periodically, subjecting the clutch plates to excessive mating forces, causing the shift points to be rough and tearing excessive particles from the plates.
Simply changing this fluid and replacing the filter does not qualify as a complete maintenance service for the transmission. The deposited varnish must also be removed, along with any other contaminate particles that have been trapped within the varnish build-up. The standard maintenance currently being performed is to remove the fluid pan from the transmission, change the filter and replace any fluid that was discarded while removing the fluid pan. This procedure generally changes half of the transmission fluid. There are several machines which attempt to change all of the transmission fluid. One machine provides air pressure to force the remaining fluid out while the fluid pan is removed, and another machine simply pumps fresh fluid into the transmission until all of the old fluid is forced out.
Again, the key to the proper maintenance of an automatic transmission is to remove all of the varnish and other contamination that have formed inside.
The art fails to recognize the importance of removing all of the contamination from all of the support systems of the vehicle. The art also fails to consider the support systems as an integral whole that must be dealt with holistically and not individually. With engines now being entirely controlled by a multitude of sensors and their respective inputs which continually feed information to an onboard computer, each support system is integrated with the other and no system may be treated without consideration of the effect of such treatment on the other support systems.
The fuel-air ratio is the most important quantity for the proper operation of an engine. All moving parts must function on a timely basis and each sensor must send proper readings to the computer for it to properly adjust the fuel-air ratio.
Most prior art engine-cleaning processes are static processes, i.e., the engine does not run while such processes are performed. However, static processes do not remove the majority of the contamination from within the engine, especially contamination on top of the heads, within the lifter areas, and on the inside walls of the block. The few prior art processes that do operate with the engine running do not provide a complete back-up system to provide the engine with uninterrupted oil flow, should the oil pump screen or oil filter become clogged; such an interruption results in immediate engine damage.
Most prior art processes for cleaning fuel injection systems just address the problem of contamination build-up on the intake valve and the injectors. Rarely do the injectors build up any contamination within them. If they do, it is not a carbon residue; it is rust or similar contamination from the fuel rail itself, as the fuel filter is designed to trap contamination from the fuel tank. Any carbon build-up on the injector tip itself is formed around the outside of the tip, as the inside will stay clean from the pressure and cleaning ability of ordinary gasoline passing through it. Simply injecting a cleaning fluid through the injector will not remove contamination from the outside of the injector tip, as its spray pattern is directed at the intake valve. The vaporization of the cleaning fluid also reduces its cleaning effectiveness. The largest problem within the fuel system is the carbon contamination that forms upon the inside walls of the intake manifold, creating a sponge for excess fuel.
Prior art machines and processes for cleaning cooling systems are designed to remove and replace anti-freeze, thereby taking out impurities and adding back rust inhibitors. None of the earlier processes restore the heat transfer properties of the engine itself, even though such restoration is the most important aspect of restoring a cooling system. Simply changing anti-freeze can be done easily, without a machine.
Simply pressurizing a new transmission fluid into a transmission to displace the old transmission fluid is ineffective and wasteful. A substantial amount of fluid dilution takes place, and at least three times the original volume of fluid must be pumped into the transmission to remove a portion of the old fluid, i.e., that fluid which lies in the fluid lines and oil cooler. The fluid within the transmission pan would also be changed to some degree, but would require a much higher amount of fluid to completely replenish it. Pressurizing air into a transmission to push out fluid creates large volumes of vapors and mist, which make their way into the shop environment, creating a very unpleasant and possibly dangerous condition. Even with a combination of the above methods, the contamination must also be removed, or the new fluid will partially dissolve some of the lighter contamination within the transmission and eventually clog up the fluid filter. For this reason, some oil change facilities refuse to perform a standard transmission fluid and filter change on vehicles having over 70,000 miles if the owner cannot produce maintenance records indicating regular fluid changes; the shops have experienced too many"comebacks" of vehicles having clogged filters.
Prior art transmission system cleaners are simply mild solvents, with varying surfactants to reduce surface tension, and with anti-friction agents to provide added lubrication properties. Such solvents will not remove the contamination present in today's engines.
Known chemical solutions for cleaning fuel injectors consist primarily of aromatic solvents, such as toluene, and other solvents of such nature; they all have relatively high evaporation rates. These cleaners prematurely vaporize within the intake manifold, i.e., before they have the opportunity to complete the cleaning job. Thus there is a need for a cleaner of low volatility, having an ability to release excess amount of nascent oxygen to further clean the combustion chamber and the catalytic converter.
The radiator cleaners heretofore known typically consist of a caustic solution to clean the radiator and its related parts of calcium and lime deposits. This is accomplished either by removing the radiator or flushing the system in place. Components are then rinsed and the system is refilled with anti-freeze. Other cleaning systems merely power flush the system or filter the anti-freeze and add back inhibitors. All of these systems address restoring the anti-freeze condition and flow through the cooling system.